1. Technical Field
This invention relates to recliner chairs, and more particularly to a swivel recliner/rocker chair which is biased slightly into a reclined position when the chair is not occupied by an individual, and which also includes means for limiting reclining and rearward rocking movement of the chair to a predetermined degree.
2. Discussion
Swivel recliner/rocker chairs are used in a wide variety of environments, and particularly in homes, to provide the comfort of a recliner/rocker with the added convenience of being able to swivel about a support platform to more easily reach nearby tables, magazine racks, home office or entertainment equipment, etc. With many prior developed swivel recliner chairs, the chair must be positioned forward off-center of its swivel base member which supports the chair for swiveling movement. This is so that the center of gravity of the chair, when the chair is urged by an individual into a maximum reclined position, is not so far off-center of the swivel base member so as to cause rearward rocking of the swivel base member itself, and thus undesirable rocking of the entire chair. If the chair itself was mounted such that its center of gravity, when unoccupied, is over the geometric center of the swivel base member, then the recliner chair would be prone to "rock" rearwardly when an individual urges it into its fully reclined position or rocks rearwardly while rocking in the chair. This is because the center of gravity of the chair, as well as the occupant, changes (i.e., moves rearwardly relative to the swivel base member) when the occupant urges the chair into the reclined position.
When a swivel recliner chair such as described above is positioned forward off-center of its swivel base member to eliminate the possibility of undesirable rearward rocking of the swivel base member, the chair sometimes has the undesirable tendency to rock forward when the occupant releases the recliner chair from a reclined position and the chair moves into a substantially upright position, or when the occupant rocks forward and stands up from the chair. This is because the center of gravity of the chair, when in its upright position, is significantly off-center towards the front of the swivel base member of the chair. Thus, the rapid movement of the chair from a fully reclined position to a fully upright position can sometimes cause a "rocking" action of the swivel base member. This rocking action can be exacerbated if the occupant quickly gets up out of the chair as the chair reaches its fully upright position.
Another drawback with some previously designed swivel recliner chairs is the lack of any means by which the reclining motion of the chair can be positively limited to a predetermined degree. Heretofore developed recliner/rocker chairs typically rely on the tension force provided by a pair of coil spring assemblies, which also enable the rocking action of the chair, to resist allowing the chair to be reclined too far. While somewhat effective, such recliner/rocker chairs still often can be rocked rearwardly beyond a point which places the center of gravity of the chair too far rearwardly on its stationary base member, thus causing an undesirable rocking action of the base member itself, and thus causing a somewhat unstable feeling of operation of the chair.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a swivel recliner/rocker chair having means for biasing the chair into a slightly reclined position, even when no seat occupant is in the chair, to thereby avoid the undesirable rocking of a swivel base member of the chair when the chair is rocked forwardly, such as when an individual quickly gets up out of the chair at the end of a forward rocking motion.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a swivel recliner/rocker chair having means for more positively limiting the maximum rearward rocking motion of the chair when the occupant of the chair rocks back in the chair.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a swivel recliner/rocker chair which is biased into a slightly reclined position even when the chair is not occupied by an individual, and without the need for additional components in the rocker spring mechanism of the chair beyond that which would typically be included in such a mechanism.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a swivel recliner/rocker chair in which the maximum reclining movement of the chair is positively limited to a predetermined degree without the need for additional component parts in the rocking mechanism of the chair beyond that typically required for such a mechanism.